Organized Labor

$64-Million Project by Hanover Co. to be Completed in 2010

By Paul Burton
Contributing Writer

Visitors to the SF Building Trades office on Executive Park Blvd. have seen the ongoing transformation of the hillside near Monster Park (formerly Candlestick Park) above the offices over the past several months. Along with the condos at Candlestick Point by developer Top Vision at the eastern edge of hill and townhouses to the west built by Signature Properties, new luxury apartments are rising between the two developments. The Hanover Company, located in Houston, Texas, with offices in Redwood City, is the developer and general contractor for the apartment complex.

The Hanover Company’s Vice President and Regional Manager Len Vetrone said that the project is the company’s first in the Bay Area. Their portfolio includes developments in Los Angeles, San Diego, Phoenix, Denver, and Houston, as well as in the eastern U.S.

Vetrone said that while the company isn’t a signatory to union agreements, they do use all-union subcontractors, including Webcor Concrete, Sierra Electric, Broadway Mechanical, and Golden Gate Drywall. Vetrone said he worked for Nibbi Brothers for 10 years and worked with many union sub-contractors. “It’s our intention to build the project with as many union subs as we can,” he said.

Assistant Project Manager Levi Bailey said the project broke ground in May and would be completed in 20 months, around January 2010. The job is in the concrete pouring stage, and scheduled to top out in late November of this year, Vetrone said. There are about 100 workers on the job site, including carpenters, iron workers, laborers and plumbers. Vetrone said the total development cost will be around $64 million.
The project, designed by MBH Architects, will feature 110 units on five floors of residential over two levels of parking. The 168,000 square foot building will also include some ground floor retail space as well as a clubhouse and outdoor patios. The developer paid an in lieu fee to the City’s Affordable Housing Development Fund instead of including below market rate rentals as part of the project.

Hanover’s Vetrone said the company was seeking LEED certification for the project. It will feature an energy efficient HVAC system and will use recycled materials as well as recycle construction debris, he said.
San Francisco based developer Top Vision LLC is also set to begin Phase III of Candlestick Point–The Cove, a condominium development that will be covered by a Project Labor Agreement with the Building Trades (See Organized Labor, Nov. 2007). Some grading has begun on the project that will feature 465 condos in three buildings above or surrounding a 5-level parking garage.

The developers also agreed to preserve 20 acres for permanent open space. The privately owned land is deed-restricted for open space, and will be accessible to the public, with a park atop the hill and trails nearby.